Women's Basketball enters the final week of the 2021-22 season with a 12-11 overall record and two games to play.  The program has enjoyed only 18 winning seasons, including 16 playoff berths, during its 42-year run and is only 15 games above .500 overall.  Currently First-year Coach Casey Blair's 12-11 record ranks as the highest winning percentage among the program's three coaches at 52.2%. The Cougars have their work cut out for them if they hope to keep him at that mark, because they end the season with two of the Western State Conference's best teams.  The Cougars travel to Moorpark on Wednesday to play the 4th-ranked Raiders.  Moorpark beat Cuesta, 69-45, in their first meeting in SLO on January 22 but the Cougars did hold the lead at halftime, 25-23, before the Raiders came on strong after the intermission.  On FRIDAY, Cuesta hosts powerhouse Ventura, who ranks 2nd all time with six CCCAA State Titles in their history.  The Cougars fell to the Pirates, 62-46, in their first meeting in Ventura, but, like Moorpark, it was a two-point contest, 27-25, at the intermission.  All that stands between the Cougars and a winning season is four quarters of their best basketball against two of the best teams in the State.  

Cuesta lost two games against local rival Allan Hancock last week. They lost in Santa Maria on Monday, 64-61, and in SLO on Wednesday, 47-33, but they ended the week with a big win against Pierce, 64-30, in Woodland Hills on Saturday.  The Cougars, despite being without leading scorer Olivia Missler, were able to pull out the win. Returning Guard Julia Carney continued her red-hot shooting during WSC play with a team-high 18 points.  She is averaging 13.4 points on the season, but over 22-points per game during the second half of WSC play.   Freshman Guard McKenzie Emmons stepped off the bench to fill-in for Missler and added 11 points and a team-high four assists to lead Cuesta to victory.